


Indescribable

by shadowsamurai



Category: The Avengers (TV)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Subtext
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-07 14:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/432158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsamurai/pseuds/shadowsamurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Indescribable was the only way he could ever describe her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Indescribable

**Author's Note:**

> Introspective piece on Steed's part. Takes place post-Mrs Peel era.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just borrowing things for a while and I promise I'll put everything back exactly how I found it when I've finished. Well, almost exactly how I found it. ;)

JS-EP-JS-EP-JS-EP

Indescribable.

That was the only word he could find to describe her and their relationship, or his feelings towards her. He had tried for many years to find the right words, and just when he thought he finally had the definite depiction of their friendship, something would happen to turn his theory inside out and upside down.

When she had first been assigned as his partner, he saw her as a replacement for Cathy Gale, nothing more, and so he treated her as such. With courtesy, of course; he was, after all, a consummate gentleman. But that had soon changed; he started to see her as a woman, and therefore prey…in the nicest possible way, of course.

When it became clear she wasn't at all interested in him that way - the fact she kept her married name although her husband was most likely dead was a big indicator she had no inclination for a relationship with anyone - he began to see her as a colleague, his partner. He trusted her, of course, but he felt she was so young and still had so much to learn.

When she finally rid him of the ridiculous notion that she wasn't qualified enough - and it didn't take much time to do it either - he started to see her as an equal, and when that shift in his thinking occurred, he found she was suddenly much more amenable to his friendly flirting. In fact, she encouraged it, replying with razor-sharp wit, and he found her to be a most stimulating opponent.

Unfortunately, as the roller coaster that resembled their relationship continued its haphazard journey, he discovered something else around the same time; he was falling in love with her. It wasn't possible on so many levels, but he found himself falling anyway.

Maybe she noticed a change in his behaviour - she was always very susceptible to his moods - he didn't know, but her own behaviour towards him started to alter as well. She seemed to relax more in his company, worry about him more, trust him more, like him more; everything seemed to be more, except for the gap between them. The professional space he had encouraged to grow was now shrinking, and when there was nothing left…he didn't want to think what would happen. It was un-chartered territory for him, and quite possible the one thing in the world that scared him.

He needn't have worried. Their relationship peaked, they were the most unstoppable force in the intelligence network, and it seemed as if they would carry on as they were forever. It seemed as though there were no more changes for them to go through, except for the one from friends to lovers, and neither wanted to take that leap, happy as they were. He often thought about the leap, but decided it would spoil a good thing. They had finally reached a status quo, and he thought often that they were soul mates. Little did he know they had one last change to go through.

When her husband miraculously reappeared, he didn't know what to make of it, or what to do. The mask of nonchalance appeared straight away, of course; he was a professional if nothing else, and the last thing he wanted or needed was for anyone to see him ruffled, not even her. In an instant, she had gone from being his best friend, his true soul mate, to someone else's wife, someone else's everything. No longer his partner, his colleague, or even his friend.

In their few last moments together, he found he had so much he wanted to tell her. Her eyes were saying she would miss him as much as he would miss her, and it was then she changed to the person he would miss forever more, the one his heart would ache for. But as usual, what he really meant to her was still a mystery.

As the years passed with startling quickness, she went from being the one his heart yearned for to an occasional correspondent, until finally they were strangers once more. The only difference now was that he knew how different his life could be with her in it. Many times he wanted to call, and once he did, but it wasn't the same. They had gone through the final change, going back to where they started from, and there was nothing left except memories.

And the fact that even after so many years, she was still indescribable to him.

FIN


End file.
